5-at-10: Merry Draftmas mailbag

5-at-10: Merry Draftmas mailbag

Wow, it's been a great week, capped by a crazy, history-making first round of the NFL draft. We got inspired and played on The Twitter (@jgreesontfp) last night during the draft. We likely will do some more of that again tonight.

Let's get to as many mailbag questions as we can.

From the war room deep inside the "Talks too much" studios, let's turn and burn, right Mav?

From Joey C.

What's the worst movie you can't help but like? Thanks.

And a friend of mine got me into the 5-at-10 -- it's good stuff. Keep up the good work.

Joey C. -

Thanks for the kind words, and feel free to swing by any time - don't cost nothing.

Let's do a quick top-five list in 10 words or less on Joey's question. Yep, this is a little something we call the 5-in-10 from the 5-at-10 for those newcomers, and it goes a little something like this, so hit it.

1) Road House: The Babe Ruth of so-bad-its-good movies

2) Top Gun: You know the movie is blah, but a great drinking game*

3) Red Dawn: Starting to see the 80s-action-cheese relation?

4) Necessary Roughness: We're a sucker for bad sports movies anyway

5) The Notebook: (Just making sure Joey C's paying attention).

• Side note: One time in college, a few of us tried the Top Gun drinking game. There are several - take a pull off your beer whenever they use a call sign or whenever they say a slang word for their aircraft or whenever there's a bit too much guy-on-guy bonding (not that there's anything wrong with that) - and we tried the call signs game. We didn't make it through the movie, but everyone swears we had a good time.

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From P-Davi

Boomer teaching how to build a Lego fort was free of charge to those tuning in, right?

P-Davi,

Thanks and great point.

Our man P-Davi is speaking of the nonsensical Chris Berman blather about Legos during the first round of the NFL draft.

Man, has he run his course.

We spoke about this with our man David Paschall on our radio show on Thursday on ESPN 105.1.

Berman is now the ultimate distraction in regard to commentators.

Think of it the way Bill Simmons reviews basketball players.

Good ones bring things to the table.

OK ones - and guys who can be good teammates - may not bring anything to the table, but they sit there and don't spill anything either.

Bad ones take things off the table.

Berman is getting to the point that he is spilling the gravy bowl and breaking dishes, especially when he speaks over Kiper or Gruden at the draft.

Pass the biscuits.

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Big Hitter,

Man, you really do love the draft. Those carols (Thursday) were awesome. How long does it take you to do the 5@10 and we know you are fond of the draft, but who had the best first round?

Thanks, and thanks for the 5@10.

Big Hitter,

Long the Llama.

Thanks for the kind words. As for the 5-at-10, well, we do it every morning. Some days take longer than others of course, but we generally start about 6:15 - and between making coffee and a chocolate milk for the lil' 5-at-10 - we're normally done by 8:15. The carols kind of just flowed yesterday. Sometimes it works; sometimes not. (Raye Anne, right? That's a beautiful name. Is that Greek? That Raye Anne. I don't know. It's a beautiful name, though. There's a great song by Motley Crue. Do you know it? Raye Anne, she's a stayin'. Anyway, a good friend of mine used to say, 'This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball. You hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Sometimes it rains.' Think about that for a while.)

We had several folks want our first-round review.

So let's do this:

WINNERS

St. Louis - The Rams moved up to get the guy they wanted in Tavon Austin and restocked picks by moving down and getting Alec Ogletree - a guy with an extremely high ceiling.

Minnesota - Wow, the Vikings turned three picks in the 20s into what a lot of people thought were the best defensive tackle (Sharrif Floyd at 23 - best value on the board), the second-best corner (Xavier Rhodes) and the second-best receiver (Cordarrelle Patterson). Well-played indeed.

Falcons and 49ers - Each team is on the short list of Super Bowl contenders. Each had big singular needs, and each moved up to address those needs rather than waiting and getting the best player at that position when their turn came. We love Eric Reid, the former LSU safety San Fran moved up to get; the Falcons wanted Desmond Trufant and made it happen. We like that approach.

Downtown Patrick Brown - The TFP ace UT beat reporter went a perfect 5-for-5 in the Feeling the Draft contest. Well-played sir, well-played indeed. Plus, his Grizz won last night. Here's saying he had a few of those fancy dark, $7 beers to celebrate.

LOSERS

Ryan Nassib - If your former college coach and college offensive coordinator pick a quarterback that's not you - as Doug Marrone and the Bills did with E.J. Manuel - that's a bad sign, right? The question now is how far will Nassib fall?

Buffalo - At least they traded down, but E.J. Manuel at 16? Dude would have been there when they pick tonight in round 2. Heck, he may have been there tonight when they pick in round 3. Plus, we believe Jarvis Jones - the player taken one spot behind Manuel - will be a star in the league.

Houston - DeAndre Hopkins over Cordarrelle Patterson? Really? REALLY? This could be the wide receiver version of Tony Eason over Dan Marino for the next generation.

Big Ten - Yep, the Big Ten had one more player drafted in the first round as the SoCon did. Enjoy and stay plodding.

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From Titantic

UT coach Butch Jones signs autographs before the Orange and White game at Neyland Stadium.

UT coach Butch Jones signs autographs before the...

Photo by
Angela Lewis
/Times Free Press.

Hey five, yes Butch is a bit of a reach but GM's draft a lot on potential and having a big upside, don't they? Side note to my earlier post, the Colonel Slade reference was because Al Pacino turned 73 today. How about a little love for his work someday?

Titantic -

We love the fact that UT fans are starting to get excited about football again. Let's face it, the football season is more fun around here when Tennessee's in the mix. And Butch has won the spring by getting Johnny Vols Fans excited.

Great Col. Slade shoutout, and we're going to honor Al Pacino's 73rd birthday with our five favorite Pacino roles, and notice most of these are from earlier in his career when he was doing a range of things as opposed to taking roles where he could be Col. Slade from Scent of a Woman in every movie, whether he's a police officer (Heat), a football coach (Any Given Sunday) or what have you.

1) Michael Corleone. And while we encourage debate around these parts, this one is non-negotiable. In fact in acting circles, we can make a case that Pacino's Corleone is akin to Don Larsen's perfect game in the World Series. Biggest stage, huge moment and he was absolutely perfect. Well-played? Heck, it was perfectly played.

2) Tony Montana in Scarface

3) Pacino in Glengarry Glen Ross

4) Col. Slade in Scent of a Woman

5) Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon

The guy was a hit machine for a while. In the last decade, though, he has let loose more stinkers than a toddler who eats canned chili.

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From Believer

Thanks for talking about the draft so much. I watched the first round and it was pretty interesting.

Who do you think is the best players still out there?

Thanks and thanks for the 5@10 -- it's a fun part of the morning.

Believer -

There are a slew of players still on the board that could contribute right away and be stars in the (cue Ron Jaworski) NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE.

Guys like Eddie Lacy, Kevin Minter and a slew of quarterbacks who are better suited for round 2 than round 1. We also love the fact that they separated rounds 1 and 2. Now there is a full day for teams to contemplate trades and make moves. It only adds to the event. (Side note: Here's hoping the league examines the 10 minutes between first-round picks. It's too long. These guys have months to get ready, three fewer minutes between picks should be fine and it would trim 90 minutes off the process, which lasted until close to midnight last night.)

Here's are three things we are intrigued about today:

How do the quarterbacks shake out? Jacksonville has to take one and we believe it will be Matt Barkley. From there, the dominoes start falling.

Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o waits for a snap.

Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o waits for a...

Photo by
Associated Press
/Times Free Press.

Where does Manti Te'o go? Dude is falling head over heels, even in an imaginary draft. (Too soon?)

Finally, which teams land a guy that makes you go, "Hey, that's a really good pick."

Here are three teams/picks in tonight's second round that would fit that bill.

Detroit taking Lacy at 36. An offense of Stafford-Megatron and Eddie Lacy would be nice.

Tennessee taking former Vols receiver Justin Hunter at No. 40.

Any team that gets Margus Hunt, the SMU freak who is 6-8, 270 and runs a 4.6 40. He's like the guy in "The Longest Yard" that breaks the guy's freakin' neck. Only faster.

Plus, when do the wide-ranging question marks of former SEC stars Tyrann Mathieu, Tyler Bray, Da'Rick Rogers and Marcus Lattimore become worth the risk?

We love the draft. You know this.

Here's another prediction: With Kevin Minter, a difference-making middle linebacker, still on the board, here's saying the Ravens will do everything short of dealing next year's No. 1 to move up and get him. If that happens, it would mean the Ravens added a stud safety in Matt Elam in round 1 and Minter in round 2 to try to replace departed future Hall of Famers in Ed Reed and Ray Lewis. That would be well-played indeed.

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From Mr. Spud

I hate the draft....you know this. But since it's free and I could win a prize...I'm in.

I prefer to call my favorite adult beverage by a more appropriate name, Spud Light. Speaking of beverages, here is a mailbag submission:

What is your Rushmore of all time great beer commercials?

Miller Lite: Bob Uecker...."Must be in the front row"

Miller Lite: Tastes Great, Less filling spots

Bud Light: Spuds Mckenzie (what else would I pick)

Dos Equis: The most interesting man in the world.

I don't always enter online contests, but when I do, I prefer the 5-at-10 contests. Stay online my friends.

Mr. Spud -

Excellent question and one that we spent entirely too much time on.

We're going to break this down a little bit.

First, we can all agree that the old-school Miller Lite ads were game-changers. From the bar room brawl to the Uecker in the front row spot to the "You can call me Ray" the whole campaign was ahead of its time.

Secondly, there are enough Bud Light ads in recent Super Bowls to have a Bud Light top 10. From the "Wazzzzz Up" to the frogs to the Clydesdales playing football, there are enough.

Let's face it, the big-time marketing folks do football commericials.

So the best four beer ads not in those two in our view are:

• The most interesting man in the world is a great ad

• The Coors Light commercials with the fake news conferences and real clips of coaches are good

• We really liked the "Brilliant" guys for Guinness

• As for the best, we can make a hard argument that the Corona ads on the beach looking at the surf are the best. Want to know why? It makes us want to have a Corona right then, and isn't that the goal of every ad.

Stay thirsty friends.

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From New Listener

Hey,

I've read the 5@10 for a while and enjoy it.

Have listened to you and David Paschall on the radio, and I got to tell you, you guys are way better than I expected. Seriously.

What's going to be the future of that deal? I hope it continues because you guys know sports better than anyone I've heard.

Thanks and keep up the good work.

New Listener,

Thanks for the kind words, especially since we weren't sure where you were headed with that one.

(Side question for the group: What's the best/worst back-handed compliment you can remember some one offering? We were at a shindig in college and one of our buddies - we'll call him Weena - offers up to this girl: "Wow, you're nowhere as big as everyone said." Oh, Weena.)

The radio thing is fun - and much harder than it looks, which is major praise to those guys like Quake and Dr. B and Jim Gumm and Wells and the rest who make it look easy at times.

Not exactly sure what the future holds in that direction, but we think there could be some options on the horizons.

For those of you who want to check Paschall and the TFP sports editor out, we'll be talking a bunch about the draft and other goofiness on ESPN 105.1 from 1-3 p.m. We're also trying to land B.J. Coleman some time today. We'll let you know on that.